Candidate hoping to unseat legislator is off GOP ballot

A Republican candidate hoping to unseat state Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg will face no opposition after a second GOP candidate was removed from the ballot Friday.

The Illinois State Board of Elections removed Charlotte "Char" Kegarise, 55, president of the Community Consolidated School District 54 board. That leaves only Schaumburg Township Library Board President Anita Forte-Scott, 38, in the Republican primary on Feb. 5.

"I'm very disappointed, because I wouldn't have put my name forward if I had thought we were being well-represented," Kegarise said Friday.

Kegarise filed about 560 signatures and more than 100 were found to be invalid, leaving her 55 shy of the 500 needed to stay on the ballot. She and her attorney, Don Laxton, protested the board's initial decision earlier this month to remove her from the ballot, citing insufficient time to respond to the objections against the signatures.

Forte-Scott was unavailable for comment.

The 56th District includes parts of Schaumburg, Rolling Meadows and Elk Grove Village, as well as five other northwest suburbs.

Froehlich, who switched to the Democratic Party last summer after years as local Republican leader, will be opposed in the primary by John W. Moynihan, 41, a Schaumburg resident and attorney.

Froehlich, 57, was Schaumburg Township GOP committeeman for half a decade before becoming a Democrat. As a Republican, he ran unopposed in general elections for the state House in 2004 and 2006 after his appointment in 2003.

Froehlich said Democrats are responding positively to his campaign.

"The Democratic voters, it's been a long time, particularly, in the DuPage area, where they haven't been represented by a Democrat," Froehlich said.

But Moynihan said many Democrats are telling him that they consider Froehlich an opportunist and also see his incumbency as a liability because of questions about fiscal irresponsibility in Springfield.